We have always suggested that everyone have a self defense strategy. The foundation for that strategy should be some martial arts training or a basic self-defense course. One of the best ways that you can learn these techniques is through our comprehensive list of Martial Arts Videos. They offer training by leaders in their field and give you the chance to learn at home at your own speed by yourself or with others.

We have self-defense training DVDs for beginners like Street Safe that teaches the basics of JKD in an hour-long video. It is a great way to start!

More for more advanced techniques there is nothing better than learning from the very best and the Delta/Seal Training is just that: the very best!

So if you’re a beginner or more advanced student and still want to learn techniques check out our martial arts videos to see if one of them isn’t just right for you.

Remember the old expression an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? That is essentially what this article is about. It is about the ability to defend yourself in a situation where you feel threatened.

No matter what your age, you can learn the basics of self-defense from a world-class professional. Jeet Kune Do is a form of self-defense that’s been described as a “style without style.” It is basically streetfighting. And in his video Paul Vunak, who teaches some of the most elite fighters in the world such as Navy SEALs, FBI, CIA, SWAT teams and others, the basics of “Jeet Kune Do” shows you in about 60 minutes how to increase your fighting ability two-fold.

The video called Street Safe teaches the eight basic principles of this fighting style in a no-nonsense way. No previous martial arts experiences required and no previous fighting experiences required. It is basically the place to start for someone who wants to learn how to fight.

Jeet Kune Do has been defined as a combination of many styles of martial arts. It was established years ago by martial artist Bruce Lee and works on the use of different tools like kicking, punching, trapping and grappling “with techniques flowing smoothly between them. It is referred to as a “style without style”.

In other words him it is organized chaos. When you want to learn the basics of self-defense Jeet Kune Do is one of the best ways to do it. And who better to learn it from than professionals. And I don’t mean the barber down the street who teaches self-defense as a hobby, I’m talking about people who are world-class experts in the field.

Paul Vunak has been teaching him military and law enforcement professionals the basics of jeet kune do for years. In his video called Street Safe he teaches you the eight basics of Jeet Kune Do in an hour-long video.

Martial arts have been in existence for such a long time that it is difficult to trace the exact period of origin. There were various types of martial arts practiced for self defense in various cultures right from time immemorial. However, certain cultures have had a larger influence on the evolution of these arts and hence stand out from the rest.

Pankration, was the martial art form developed by the Greeks for defense against attackers. This art is a blend of different styles including boxing, grappling and wrestling. Japanese martial arts were largely based on breathing exercises and later were influenced by the Chinese who took keen interest in the evolution and development of these arts of self defense. Though there are innumerable forms of Chinese martial arts, some of them that have been passed through generations and are widely practiced by people from various parts of the world are Wushu, Kung Fu and Kuoshu.

The need for the Chinese to excel in the field of self defense prompted them to redefine certain traditional forms of martial arts and take it to another new level. Today, people all over the world recognize the Chinese martial art forms as effective self defense options and there are schools in various parts of the world to impart the knowledge of these art forms others.

Age is never a strong deterrent to hardened crooks and other criminals. That’s why it’s never too late for any woman to learn how to properly defend herself from all kinds of threat.

Self-Defense for All Generations
In Lawrence Parks and Recreations, a three-hour self-defense class on the afternoon was attended by a family of three-generations: Christine Winters, her daughter Lori Howard, and her young granddaughter Tanner.

The instructor herself proved that not even size could be a hindrance to learning self-defense; Mandana Hurt was forty-five years old and petite at five-foot-one. Also helping her teach her female students was not just her husband but her pre-teen daughter Natasha as well.

Each class began with a warning: no flashy moves would be taught and pain was sure to follow. Students were then summarily taught how to pinch, choke, stomp, bunch, block, and kick their attackers.

Hurt, who also taught science at Central Junior High School during the day, also imparted other important self-defense prevention tactics to her students. She taught them to be aware of their surroundings, remember locking the door, and even why it was best to stand at the side of a tree when they were loading stuff in the trunk of their cars.

Having taught self-defense lessons for eighteen years, Hurt had noticed how attendance rose and fell, usually hitting the highest point when local attacks were also on the rise.

Other Self-Defense Tips for Women
Attacks will most often catch you by surprise and unarmed as well. But if you have the will to survive then there are many ways when you can still defend yourself.

Practice makes perfect
If you’ve got self-defense skills, don’t let them become rusty. Practice regularly so that if you do end up in danger, you won’t suffer even a second of doubt or confusion as to what you should do next.

Look for substitute weapons
You may be out of pepper spray, your Taser is still charging, but that doesn’t mean you have to fight weaponless. Perfume, hair brushes, and lipsticks can all be excellent weapons when used properly.

Hit strategically
Don’t waste time and effort with wild strikes. If you are going to fight, make sure that you target vulnerable areas like eyes, throats, and groin. Decide which angle it’s best for you to strike.

Be prepared
Never underestimate your attacker. Do not hesitate when you strike and never show your fear. Once you let your fears get to you, your attacker will immediately have the upper hand!

Anyone can be a victim. As such, it doesn’t matter how old a person is or what race he belongs to. A person is always better off knowing how to defend himself if calling 911 proves to be impossible.

Who Says Old People are Pushovers?
In Charlotte, North Carolina, seniors are learning a new use for their canes. At the Atria Merry Wood senior living center, the elderly are benefiting from a self-defense class that’s specially designed for their age – and their use of canes. Combat Cane classes teach the art of cane-fu, a self-defense tactic that would not only save them from the bad guys but are great for exercising and their self-confidence, too!

Although students of the recently introduced cane-fu classes were still somewhat reticent about using their newly acquired skills with the cane, experts have noted the positive effects of the workout on the seniors’ mental acuity as well as heart and lung activity.

Combat cane classes focused on hitting target areas like eyes, throat, and groin. Afterwards, voluntary pairs were selected for mock battles. Euphemisms like dot the eyes, which referred to eye-poking, were used in respect of their students’ advanced age.

Other self-defense tips were also imparted. The seniors were particularly delighted at learning non-physical tactics to avoid trouble and deter attackers. They were advised not to reveal their fear, shout and use foul language, if necessary, just to show they weren’t an easy victim.

Westerns Learn the Eastern Way of Self-Defense
A West Scope center teaches young students how to defend their selves with a little-known Indonesian martial art called “poekoelan tjimindie tulen”. Besides teaching self-defense maneuvers, it also taught kids important values like respect for one’s self and others.

Kids in the center were barefoot, wore white shirts, loose-fitting white pants, and belts of different colors. They learned jabs and kicks, which altogether helped build their physical and emotional confidence.

The same Indonesian martial art style is also taught in public schools in Portland and Beaverton as well as in free clinics. Pronounced as pu-ku-lan chi-min-dee tu-len, the martial art focused on instilling “compassionate balanced action” in the kids.

Prior to the physical lessons, kids were also taught basic self-defense techniques like trusting their gut in order to identify potentially “bad”situations and do what they can to avoid trouble. They were also taught how to defend themselves verbally at first and to use physical force only as a last resort.

There are numerous ways for a woman to defend herself from all kinds of attack. In some situations, however, such ways could end up with the attacker’s death. If you don’t want that on your conscience, here are a few tips to protect yourself without taking another person’s life.

Focus on Escaping
The only time there’d actually be a viable possibility for you to kill your offender is when both of you are involved in a direct confrontation. But why would you want to do that in the first place? Consider only getting in a tussle with your offender as a last resort. What you should focus instead is finding a way to safety and escaping as physically intact as possible.

Give a Warning
If you are confident about your self-defense skills but are loathe to use it unless necessary, give a warning to your offender! Now, this doesn’t mean laying all your cards down the table but suffice to say, just let him know that you are capable of defending yourself and that you don’t want to hurt him but if he forces you to then you would not hesitate.

If you are under attack against a bully, these words may be more than enough to make him hesitate. Bullies, after all, prefer fighting those who are weak. But if you show yourself to be strong, you won’t appeal to them as a victim. Those precious seconds of hesitation could be more than enough to save your life!

Target Vulnerable but not Life-threatening Areas
If direct confrontation is inevitable and you are worried about ending up killing your offender, the next thing to focus on are areas which will effectively weaken or disarm him but will not cost him his life.

For male attackers, the genital area is of course the most vulnerable. A strong, well-aimed kick could effectively put a stop to his attack. Make sure, however, that you really have the element of surprise working for you because most attackers are prepared against such tactics.

Aim to make him unconscious. Use hard blunt objects to hit your attacker on the head; aim well, strike hard, and you can render your attacker unconscious. Do not use pointed objects; your panic and confusion could make you inadvertently hit him using the pointed side and this could cause greater damage and, in worst case scenario, the death of your attacker.

And of course, don’t forget to scream and do what you can to call for help. This could make your offender panic and leave you alone!

In self-defense, the groin kick is considered as one of the most effective means of fighting off an attacker and rendering them helpless. Although the effect is generally temporary, it can buy you enough time to escape or even disarm your attacker. But is it really that effective as a self-defense tactic? Here are some things you ought to know about the groin kick:

If your attacker is a man, he’s probably expecting a groin kick
Men know that a well-placed kick in the groin can be very painful. The groin area, particularly the part where the male genitals are, is extremely sensitive. There are more nerves in this area and the skin and underlying tissues are not as well insulated or protected by a good layer of fat or muscle.

Male attackers know this and are more likely to be wary (and ready) for attacks to the groin. Their instinct will help prevent any part of your body from hitting their groin and thus protect them from pain.

Use the element of surprise
Kicking the groin as a self-defense tactic can be very effective if it is performed at the moment your attacker least expects it. If your attacker can stop a groin kick or if your attack does not have enough force in it, you will simply anger your attacker and give them more reason to harm you physically.

The best and most effective way to use the groin kick as a self-defense tactic is to unleash it as a surprise attack. If your attacker doesn’t see it coming, the more effective and debilitating it can be.

If you must use the groin kick, make sure your attacker doesn’t see it
Another important thing to remember about the groin kick is to use it at close range. That way, you are sure of your target and are more likely to make a direct hit. The crotch area can also be accessed more easily from a close angle.

Don’t always rely on ‘kicking’
When people are instructed to use a kick as a self-defense tactic, they think only about using the foot or the knee as a means for an attack. However, in a real-life emergency situation, your knees or feet may not always have necessary leverage or room to commence an effective groin kick.

If your knees or feet have no room to move to perform a groin kick, consider using other parts of the body, including your hands or elbows. If necessary, you might even consider using a tool such as a stick, a bat or a rock. That way, you are not severely limited by circumstance when it comes to preserving your life.

The art and science of self-defense is not something you inherit. Even the best fighting families have to teach their young in order to train them about the best ways to utilize certain techniques. If you’ve decided to learn self-defense for protection or for fitness, you must understand that you will not only be investing your time and effort on it, you will also be investing your commitment. Here are ways to hone your self-defense skills:

Learn from the right source
Honing your self-defense skills is like learning to play the violin. You could probably learn on your own and could very well execute the right moves decently but you may not be able to learn the proper techniques on how to utilize the moves properly.

When it comes to honing your self-defense skills, it’s important that you learn from someone who has been properly trained and have the right certifications. It’s quite easy to hurt yourself unnecessarily if you learn self-defense from the wrong source.

Take time to develop your skills
Learning a self-defense skill is not something that happens overnight. Some kung fu legends even tell of masters who teach their students one move and tell them to practice the same move again and again for a year. Within that period, the master doesn’t teach anything else. Extreme, probably but it does teach you about persistence and practice.

The key here is to allow your body to become familiar with a move. To execute a self-defense skill correctly, you must be able to know which parts of the body are utilized and how. You should also be able to understand why such a move is being used and for what. Once you have built muscle memory, it will be easier for you to execute the self-defense moves correctly.

Find a sparring partner
You could probably practice using a punching bag or a dummy but nothing beats a breathing, living, moving partner to spar with. A sparring partner will teach you many things that no dummy could â€“ how an attacker could move, from where you could be attacked and how exactly you could execute a self-defense move. With a sparring partner, you could also learn the right pressure to use in order to subdue an attacker completely.

Practice, practice and more practice
To hone your self-defense skills, it’s important that you practice as much as you can. If you’re still a beginner, try to find the time to practice everyday. If the moves are unfamiliar to you, your muscles have to learn them over and over again in order for you to remember the sequences. If you’ve been learning self-defense for a while, it’s still important for you to practice in order to build your skills and make you an efficient and effective fighter.

A lot of your efficiency and efficacy when it comes to self-defense will depend on your instructor – how well they can transfer their knowledge to you as their student and how effective their techniques are for real-life self-defense. Once you’ve decided to learn self-defense, your most important consideration is who to choose to learn from. But how do you check if your self-defense instructor is actually teaching you the right moves? Here are ways you’ll know:
He’s trained and certified in the self-defense course you want to learn
Decide on the type of self-defense class you want to learn first and then look for a teacher who has the appropriate training and certification in that discipline. This is because you can’t realistically expect a taekwondo instructor to teach the art of Krav Maga simply because he/she doesn’t have the proper skills and knowledge.

Always look for a self-defense instructor who is certified in the self-defense style you want. That should give you a pretty good idea if he/she is capable of really teaching you the right moves.

Check local credentials, certifications or national affiliations. Internationally trained and affiliated self-defense instructors are usually more expensive but you could have the assurance that you will be trained under the best. Ask for referrals from associations and clubs. Many of these are nationwide networks, which should allow you to find certified instructors in your area.

Ask for referrals and reviews
If you can, look for former or current students of the self-defense instructor you want to take classes under. Ask these students regarding their experiences – the techniques taught by the instructor, how well the lessons are structured and shared, how long each sessions are and the kind of progression you can expect.

Checking if your self-defense instructor is really going to teach you the right moves and will not merely take a move on you is sometimes just a matter of learning from others’ experiences. Do this before you sign up for any lessons.

Do your own research
It pays to have enough knowledge or background regarding the type of self-defense discipline you want to learn. That way you will be more familiar with the type of moves involved, including the kind you can expect an instructor to teach you.

There are plenty of books, magazines, videos or websites that can offer you excellent information regarding self-defense instructions. Learn from these. Once you know the kind of moves used in a particular self-defense discipline, you could easily check whether your self-defense instructor is really teaching you the right moves and not just taking a move on you.